Moving the Needle on Pay Equity

The gender pay gap is real, and it hurts women and families. Did you know that in 2014, women working full time in the United States typically were paid just 79 percent of what men were paid, a gap of 21 percent?

November 13, 2015

The gap has narrowed since the 1970s, but progress has stalled in recent years, and the pay gap does not appear likely to go away on its own.

The AAUW (American Association of University Women) recently released Fall 2015 report, The Simple Truth about the Gender Pay Gap, provides up to date pay gap statistics by state, race, and in the United States; how it affects women of all ages, races, and education levels; and what can be done to close it. The news overall is discouraging. According to the report, the pay gap has barely budged in a decade and at its’ current rate, the gap will not close for more than 100 years. The report found that women are paid about 90% of what men are until the age 35. This is when women’s median earnings typically drop to 75 – 80% of men’s. As noted in the report, the wage gap is not a women’s issue, its a family issue . For answers to these questions and more read the full report here.

In the book Feminine Capital (2015) by Barbara Orser and Catherine Elliot, the authors note that women entrepreneurs are generally committed to pay equity through their own enterprises; a great step.

However we also know this can reduce your enterprise’s competitiveness as it raises your cost structure vis a vis your non-pay equity committed competitor down the road. Progress in isolation can lead to unsustainability. We need to make sure ALL enterprises observe pay equity standards.

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